Ear lobe crease and coronary heart disease
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D Moraes1, P McCormack, J Tyrrell
1Dept of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity College Medical School, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8.
Insights
The ear lobe crease (ELC) is significantly associated with coronary heart disease. While not a diagnostic tool due to low sensitivity, its high specificity suggests it can predict coronary heart disease presence.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Preventive Medicine
Background:
- The ear lobe crease (ELC) is a visible physical sign.
- Potential associations between ELC and various cardiovascular diseases have been explored.
- Understanding these associations can aid in early risk identification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between the presence of an ear lobe crease (ELC) and several cardiovascular conditions.
- To determine if ELC can serve as a predictive marker for ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and smoking.
Main Methods:
- A study of 247 consecutive patients admitted to an acute general hospital.
- Systematic observation and recording of the presence or absence of ear lobe creases.
- Statistical analysis to determine correlations between ELC and various health conditions.
Main Results:
- A significant association was found between the ear lobe crease (ELC) and coronary heart disease.
- No significant correlation was observed between ELC and hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, or smoking.
- Prevalence of ELC did not differ significantly between males and females.
Conclusions:
- The ear lobe crease (ELC) demonstrates a significant predictive value for coronary heart disease.
- With a specificity of 94%, ELC can be a useful physical sign for identifying individuals at risk.
- ELC is not recommended as a standalone diagnostic test for coronary heart disease due to its low sensitivity.
Abstract:
Two hundred and forty seven consecutive patients admitted to an acute general hospital were studied. The presence of an association between the ear lobe crease (ELC) and ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and smoking was investigated. The association between an ELC and coronary heart disease was found to be significant. There was no significant difference between the prevalence of ear lobe creases in males versus females and no correlation between ear lobe creases and smoking, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease or stroke was found. Despite having a low sensitivity the specificity of an ear lobe crease is 94% which suggests that it should be used as a physical sign predictive of the presence of coronary heart disease rather than a diagnostic test.